Jon Lovitz Biography

Fast Facts

• Performed in high-school plays but credits the University of California at Irvine for providing him with his first real training in acting; met actors Ben Kingsley, Patrick Stewart and Robin Williams during his time at UCI
• Joined the Groundlings in Los Angeles in 1982 and met Phil Hartman there two years later
• Recommended for an audition for Saturday Night Live by former Groundling and SNL alum Laraine Newman and was hired in 1984
• Persuaded SNL producer Lorne Michaels to hire Hartman after he landed a job on the show
• Made movie debut in the 1986 comedy Last Resort
• Appeared in the music video for the song "Voices That Care" and sang in the choir
• Was originally considered for the role of Marcus Burnett in the 1995 action flick Bad Boys, but director Michael Bay decided against it; the role eventually went to Martin Lawrence
• Played a "stoned guy named Steve" twice on Friends, once during the first season in "The One with the Stoned Guy" and eight seasons later in "The One with the Blind Dates
• " But they were not the same character
• Opened the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club at Universal CityWalk in the greater Los Angeles area in May 2009
• Has played in a number of celebrity tennis events and has filmed spots for the Tennis Channel in which he appears as a chair umpire settling disputes